About

Arthur Machen was an influential writer of horror and weird tales, an actor, journalist and native of Gwent. The influence of the countryside of his childhood echoes through his strange and fascinating fiction. In this talk Catherine Fisher discusses the power of the landscape in Machen's work, with especial reference to his early Chronicle of Clemendy, newly republished by Three Impostors Press, the illustrations for which are currently on exhibition in Abergavenny Museum and Castle.

Catherine Fisher is a poet and novelist for children and young people. Her work has been shortlisted for the Blue Peter, Carnegie and Costa prizes and she has won the WBC Tir na nOg Prize twice. Her novel Incarceron was a New York Times bestseller. Catherine is a lifelong fan of Machen's work. She is a native of Gwent and lives in Newport.

The exhibition ‘Beyond The Veil: Visions From The World Of Arthur Machen’

is on at Abergavenny Museum until December 18th 2022. It features art inspired by the writings of Arthur Machen (1863-1947) who drew inspiration from his native Monmouthshire, its landscape, history and Roman remains, as well as medieval and Arthurian tales, the strange and supernatural, the weird and the wonderful. It showcases both original works, as well as print reproductions of artwork commissioned to illustrate recent reprints of Arthur Machen stories by the Newport based publishers The Three Impostors. There are also first editions of these works, manuscripts, letters and photographs – find out more about Arthur Machen’s life and works.